The specialty crop production industry is a cornerstone of the U.S. agricultural economy. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, specialty crop production has accounted for over 41.2 percent of U.S. cropland value of production. Producers and handlers of fruits, tree nuts, vegetables, melons, potatoes, and nursery crops comprise the multi-faceted specialty crop production industry. At the forefront of this industry is tree fruit production, which accounts for 35.3 percent of U.S. specialty crop consumption per capita and generated nearly 15 billion dollars in annual revenue in 2010 alone. These tree fruit crops are some of the most labor intensive crops to produce. The variable production labor overhead includes the pruning, thinning and harvesting processes. The blossom thinning or green fruit thinning has been in practice for hundreds of years; it is a complex, time sensitive procedure, which reduces fruit branch loading, resulting in a higher quality, larger sized product.
Too many blossoms and/or fruits per tree can result in small fruit size, poor quality, and breakage of limbs. Traditionally, this process has been accomplished by hand or manual labor. However, a variety of chemical and mechanized thinning methods have been explored to reduce labor requirements. However, chemical thinning techniques have been proven unsafe and caustic in particular fruits, such as peaches, and is not an option for growers. Conversely, mechanical thinning and/or mechanized thinning studies have shown improved production efficiency while maintaining canopy integrity.